Irrigation District Pursues Legal Action to Retain Water Rights for Hundreds of Local Farmers, Ranchers and Families

Irrigation District Pursues Legal Action to Retain Water Rights for Hundreds of Local Farmers, Ranchers and Families

Tracy, CA (June 26, 2015) – The Byron-Bethany Irrigation District filed a lawsuit in Contra Costa County Superior Court today demanding that the “notice of curtailment” BBID received June 12, 2015 be rescinded immediately and seeks damages from the State for the devastating impacts of the State Water Resources Control Board’s order to cease diversions.

The notice of curtailment, which was issued by the State Water Resources Control Board, intends to strip century-old water rights from family farms and ranches and the communities that depend upon them in order to contend with the state’s drought emergency. The curtailment notice also impacts the community of Mountain House, whose 12,000 residents rely solely on BBID for their water supply. While BBID is dedicated to helping conserve water during this time of drought, the district contends that the state’s dramatic and overreaching action is inappropriate, dangerous and illegal.

“Enough is enough,” says BBID Board President Russell Kagehiro. “The more than 160 agricultural customers we represent provide food for Californians and the entire United States. The State Water Board has chosen a path that will force farmers and ranchers to defend rights as old as California itself. It is irresponsible and unnecessary. We will fight to ensure that water rights are protected, so families and farms can continue to grow and provide for the state and the nation, and to keep agriculturally-based families and communities from drying up at the whim of the state.”

Access to water diversion for farming purposes in this area was established in the early 1900s, and has served as the lifeblood of local communities and family farms. The curtailment notice is nothing short of catastrophic. It will strangle family farms, kill vital crops, compromise thousands of livestock, raise consumer prices, destroy thousands of jobs, and ultimately eliminate the ability to farm the land. Reducing water flow to these farmers and ranchers will impact the economy throughout California, and potentially across the country.

“The state has failed to demonstrate that it has the jurisdiction to curtail pre-1914 water rights in the manner it has chosen this year,” says BBID General Counsel Daniel Kelly. “BBID is pursuing all legal avenues available to gain relief from the curtailment notice and to ensure that the flow of water is uninterrupted. These farming communities are vital to California’s economy and to our country’s food supply. We are optimistic that the Court will uphold our century-old water rights and our Constitutional rights, lifting the restriction on our diversion of water before our farmers and the communities we serve realize the devastating impact of the State Water Board’s action.””

Thousands of acres of rich land served by BBID provide an abundant harvest of corn, tomatoes, alfalfa, grapes, cherries, walnuts and more, as well as an enormous number of livestock. All of this feeds not just Californians, but people across the nation. The impact of the curtailment notice will have a significant ripple effect for the agrarian economy, from which these communities will likely never fully recover.

“The potential damages to the region are practically immeasurable,” says Rick Gilmore, BBID General Manager. “It is crucial that water continues to flow unabated to our customers and our communities. Our best estimates have the future damages in the millions in terms of crop damage, job loss to farmers, packers and ranchers, and a completely unknown domino effect that will impact that region for years to come.”

“Farmers are, by nature, stewards of natural resources,” added Gilmore. “In California in particular, farmers have been producing more while using less in the way of water and other natural resources for decades. In truth, farmers are some of the best defenders of natural resources here in California, not a group to be punished.”